Before the campaigns even started, I may have been able to hold my nose and pull the lever. But this past year has been far too revealing.

And now the best they can offer is, "but... Trump!"

As of January.

The campaign that Hillary has run coupled with the creepy behavior of her alleged "supporters" in this message board has converted me.

I'm an original McGoverite -- but a loyal Democrat who has argued against splinter politics and Naderism with a lot of energy and indignation. I always told them that the Democratic Party had open primaries and it would be easier to take it over than to beat it in the General Election.

But the Stacked Deck this year made a liar out of me. And reading on this board the gloating about Super Delegates and closed primaries while ridiculing every single report of irregularity tells me that there is no openness in the Party.

Yeah, I know. The more I think about it, the more I get pissed. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take back our democracy, and we will probably piss it away.

noticing it now. I know the party used to be known for dirty tricks and ballot box stuffing, especially in the South and in Chicago, but I thought things had become cleaner.

But I suspect a lot of things are being noticed because of social media--after Iowa, the Bernie campaign seems to have encouraged recording of events by local activists--which has provided a window on the campaigns that was not previously available or provable.

What troubles me is that despite clear evidence of irregularities, and suggestive evidence of fraud, none of the steps that are required by international election standards have been taken. In fact, many of the basics, such as non-partisan citizen-group monitors are not even allowed; and there's been no corrective action anywhere. Our election do not come close to the standards to which those in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are held. And our primaries are actually the worst.

When you go back and think about, the corruption started, for me, many decades ago. It has built into our current corrupt system. You cannot trust the "paid for" SPAC politicians. You can't trust corporate media. Anyone in "The establishment" should be questioned. I think that social media has completely brought this to the forefront. Thank God. For people to still ignore what is going on around them saddens me big time. The oligarchy still has control of them. Now is the time for the revolution. NOW.

movement, if it existed, and Occupy Wall Street probably would have been a short-lived, localized protest, as would the protests in Wisconsin. But the PTB always look to control the means by which people mobilize (it used to be mass media) and I expect them to find a way to curtail this too--other than shutting off the internet, which businesses now depend on. Of course there already using it to monitor everyone, so I guess they can just round everybody up if they feel threatened.

I've lost count. This oft bandied about generic term does not readily define itself. The intended impact of it's use seems to be "no further discussion needed, I win". Further complicating things, it certainly appears that some of these establishments do not like other ones. And one of these, Establishment Republicans, are none too fond of Donald Trump. Does that make him, well, good? Are some not quite so bad or much worse than others? Is there a handy-dandy list detailing the various establishments along with descriptions? Until this clarifying list materializes, the impact of this over-used and under-defined term will continue to register with zero impact.